Brussels, 17/09/2007 (Agence Europe) - In July 2007, the euro area recorded a surplus of €4.6 billion in its trade with the rest of the world, compared with a surplus of €1.1 billion in July 2006. The June 2007 balance was +€7.6 billion, compared with +€1.6 billion in June 2006. In July 2007, compared with June 2007, seasonally adjusted exports fell by 0.5%, while imports rose by 3.6%. The first estimate for July 2007 extra-EU27 trade was a deficit of €13.8 billion, compared with a deficit of €13.9 billion in July 2006. In June 2007, the balance was -€9.4 billion, compared with -€13.3 billion in June 2006. In July 2007, compared with June 2007, seasonally adjusted exports fell by 1.5%, while imports rose by 3.2%.
EU27 trade with most of its major partners grew, with the exception of exports to the United States (-2% in January-June 2007 compared with January-June 2006), and imports from Norway (-10%) and Russia (-6%). The largest increases were in exports to Russia (+30%), India (+20%), China and Brazil (both +14%), South Korea (+12%) and Norway (+10%), and for imports from China (+20%), Brazil (+17%), India (+16%) and Turkey (+14%). The EU27 trade surplus with the United States fell (€38.4 billion in January-June 2007 compared with €43.3 billion in January-June 2006). The EU27 trade deficit grew with China (to €72.5 billion compared with €59.0 billion), but decreased with Russia (€27.8 billion compared with €41.4 billion) and Norway (€15.7 billion compared with €21.9 billion).
Among member states, the largest surplus was in Germany (€97.0 billion euro in January-June 2007), followed by the Netherlands (€20.6 billion), Ireland (€15.6 billion), Sweden (€8.5 billion) and Belgium (€7.5 billion). The United Kingdom (€65.4 billion) registered the largest deficit, followed by Spain (€44.9 billion), France (€19.3 billion), and Greece (-19.0 billion). (ab)